When rapper Tupac Shakur took the stage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California recently — 15 years after his death — it raised more than eyebrows.

The performance, created by a computerized image similar to a hologram, also raised legal questions about how technology is changing the way a celebrity’s image or likeness is used — especially after their death.

Even beyond the legal ramifications are ethical questions of whether the image or performance holds true to the memory of the deceased celebrity.

For intellectual property attorneys, however, it doesn’t matter about the technology or method used to bring those celebrities back to life.

It’s all about having permission to use their images, voices or likenesses.

“The IP issues are no different than they were 10 years ago. The issues are all the same, based on the right of publicity or privacy,” said George Lewis, partner in the Denver office of Minneapolis-based Merchant & Gould. “When you die, you no longer have a right of privacy. But you still have a right of publicity.”

Lewis practices copyright and trademark law for media and entertainment clients in the Rocky Mountain region.

What has changed for celebrities and their estates, Lewis said, is the ways that legally protected images are being used.

“Computer graphics have gotten to the point now where you could digitize a dead actor using his movies and create another movie from that,” he said. “So if you wanted Rock Hudson in your movie and you spent enough money, you could have Rock Hudson.”

California has one of the nation’s biggest bodies of law regarding celebrities’ rights, thanks to Hollywood and the entertainment industry there.

Industries:

Comments

If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.